


How Kelly ended up with Tony(and how Tony ended up with Gibbs)

by emrys_lokann



Category: NCIS
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-22
Updated: 2017-08-26
Packaged: 2018-12-18 14:56:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11876907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emrys_lokann/pseuds/emrys_lokann
Summary: As the title says.This is essentially a story where Kelly didn't die. Tony somehow ended up to be part of the family(one way or another). Also, Gibbs was an active marine in the early part of story. I made up some names.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, this is my first time writing a NCIS fic.  
> There are parts of the tv plot I can't remember clearly, so I just took some liberties.  
> This fic is currently unbetaed, I apologize for all mistakes, no offence meant.

**One. How Kelly ended up with Tony** **, the first time.**

 

For Kelly, it all ended on a Tuesday night. Mr. Mitch was protecting mom and her, it’d been twenty two days of night-driving, dry sandwiches and deserted highways. They talked quietly even in the privateness of their own vehicle, as if afraid of spooking the greyish starless nights outside their windows.

 

She knew that something was wrong, even more out of place than the fact of her leaving school and all her friends and toys, even worse than mom worrying and shaking when she thinks that Kelly is asleep.

 

There’s this unsettling rumbling in her stomach. She feigned sleep, tilting her head and peeking outside the car window. It’s probably nothing, mom said so, and Mr. Mitch agreed with her. It’s just that she misses her dad so much in a day like this, when she felt alright with mom, but mom wasn’t quite alright herself, they’d both only feel truly safe if dad was here with them. Kelly missed her dad, so bad.

 

But he can't really be here, no.

 

Kelly was young, like her mom always says, but she doesn't think that she's so young to the point of not understanding that her dad is out there protecting everybody. She's eight years old, almost ten, and she's gonna be a big girl soon enough. She likes to think that she knows her dad pretty well (‘cause it's her dad, right). She knows that aside from mom and herself, he also loves his job of protecting others, and he loves uncle peter from "the corps", and there’s this other thing he values a great deal as well:

 

Honor.

 

Dad once said to her that _honor_ is not an award of gift to take, but a natural thing coming within any truly good man. It’s what makes someone trustworthy. That’s why her taking Andia's missing ribbon back to her and staying with Joey while he was sick was honorable things to do, although there weren’t any awards involved. Kinda like honesty, compassion, things like that, she thought, Miss Stewart once told the class.

 

So when dad tried to explain why he always have to go back out there, she'd told him that she understood.

 

"It's the right thing for you, isn’t it daddy? The honorable thing," she asked as they were in the garage reading this story about sailing pirates, and dad just went silent.

 

"It’s okay,” she said. And in that moment, it did actually feel okay all of a sudden, she could make sense of daddy leaving at all the important times. "As long as you call." She added, he should call every week at least, she thought.

 

Then dad just hugged her tightly and murmured "thank you, baby" quietly at her ears. She kissed him on the nose and they went back to the pirates.

 

But still, looking aimlessly at the shadowy roads outside, she can't help wishing that he's here, all the same. Kelly hummed the silly tune dad always hummed to mom and her when they went out together. It started to rain, and within minutes the sky became a dark shade of hollow grey, just like the dim parking basements that she didn't feel comfortable in.

 

Suddenly, they came to a rush brake. Mr. Mitch cursed in the front seat, “What’s wrong ------”mom gasped, but then their windows were smashed. It happened so fast. The mid-night breeze and gunnery heat consumed them at the same time, and all she could hear was Mr. Mitch yelling "get under" before a loud banging knocked their car over.

 

She got smashed against the front seat, seatbelts biting into her chest. She screamed, reaching for mom, but in the dark she couldn’t see anything.

 

She didn't really have time to think anything before mom yanked her under the seats.

 

The rain was so loud, thunder and haunting sounds of guns drowned out everything else, but in the back of her mind, the car engines were roaring, there was this high-pitched noise of car tires, plus the shouting, screaming, her and her mom’s, she couldn’t help herself. Her head was swirling, shapes flickered before her eyes, she squeezed them shut.

 

Another round of deafening guns and something crushed into the car from her side. She felt something warm coming out of her face and her hand was all soaked grabbing mom's shirt.

 

Oh no, no, NO. She felt scared, confused. Something's happened, she can't fathom what.

 

Kelly tried to open her eyes, but her head was so heavy she didn’t have the strength to do even that. Mom, dad, she clinged on her last thoughts before unconsciousness claimed her.

 

*************************

 

Tony was not alright.

 

The shitty place was mostly trashed, his room was less than a stall, the girls at the home was doing drugs and propositioning him all the time and Greg beat the shit out of everyone without batting an eye. He’s not really sorry for getting kicked out again, but still, this’d be the second transfer in eight months.

 

Also, his emancipation request failed again. He's been filing since he was fourteen, after he got out of that failure of a second family. Supporting himself has never been an issue for him, but other living conditions, in his opinion the hypocritical ones that no one really cared about, he has yet to meet. Thus, the failure.

 

All in all, this was not a very good day for Tony DiNozzo.

 

But he wasn’t pissed at the world, or himself, as a matter of fact. That was two years ago, back when he was still angry about everything (mostly his dad). He's seen it all now though, the same deal in most teen-adoptive homes. Indifferent parents, violent siblings, drugs, manipulation, it's pretty much the same.

 

Although now he's sitting in this desperately tiny office again, which isn’t alright by anyone’s standards, he is actually calm.

 

He's dad will probably call him pathetic, but hey, since Tony is not at all thinking of him, he's not gonna be able to fuck with his head no more. he's not, nuh uh.

 

"Mr. DiNozzo, hold on here, I'll give you the forms for state institutes shortly, you know, that's where you'll be staying. Temporarily." The new desk secretary tells him. She's nicer than the last one, but that's because she doesn't know him very well yet, he suppose.

 

She brought in a little girl with her. "Sit here, sweetheart, until I come back." She told the girl. Without waiting for her to nod, she left.

 

Tony felt slightly irritated right there and then. He didn't register his anger to be justified though. He knew that people here knew little for the stream of children flowing in and out, cared even less. He knew that logically, first hand. But still, he can't help feeling sorry for the little girl sitting quietly next to him.

 

"Hey, I'm Tony." he tried, the girl looked up palely, not responding much. She can't be over ten.

 

"What's your name?" He asked in as much cheer as he can muster. The girl looked into his eyes and wow, blue, blue eyes, like the light waves in the Caribbean and autumn windy skies, that kind of blue.

 

"I'm Kelly." she said in a small voice.

 

“Nice to meet you, Kelly,” He smiled to her, offering his hand within her reach. He didn’t ask _how did you end up here_ or _where are the parents of a sweet girl like you_ , because there weren’t many answers. One way or another, he didn’t want to know.

 

Kelly didn't answer him. She just looked down on the ground and stared at the dirty floor. He thought she wasn't gonna say anything, but "mom," she managed, before tearing up and sobbed out.

 

Christ. Poor girl. He thought to himself, _she’s younger than I was_. He got to his feet, bent down, took Kelly's smaller hands in his own and hugged the little girl close. She was tiny. She’s younger than Tony himself when his own mother died and he being left alone on the sidewalk. Never one day did he forget how he felt back then. "It's okay now, Kelly. Kelly. It's okay." He hushed the girl, feeling her clinging to him and not letting go. "It’ll be alright, Kelly. It will," He murmured softly to her, feeling her shivers slowing down, he sighs, "eventually."

 

*************************

 

So it turns out, he and Kelly are both staying at a temporary institute until people come to get them. Kelly's dad is stationed abroad, on some radio silence shit of mission, and won’t be coming for at least six weeks. He felt angry on the girl’s behalf, but at least there still is someone for her, he thought, and that’s a good thing. All she'll have to do is to get through the weeks.

 

Himself however, is a different story. Temporary housing isn’t really a long-term solution for him. He could try for emancipation again in some time, he supposed, but he doubted that the possibility was anywhere beyond slim.

 

He has other things to care about however, in the meantime.

 

*************************

 

Tony was like an old friend, though Kelly's positive that that wasn't the case, since mom and dad never knew him, and she knew him all by herself. But all in all, she felt okay staying with him.

 

She thinks about her mom a lot, (normal, according to Tony), wondering if mom might suddenly show up and come to get her. Bad dreams of silent screaming and muzzled figures come to her almost every night since she woke up at the hospital.

 

They said she wasn't badly hurt, but she wasn't paying attention. She was scared, at first, wanted her mom, so she didn't care a bit about what those strangers were talking about.

 

Then she was handed over to people in uniforms. Mom never showed up, she got the feeling by then, but refused to believe it. Uniforms are good, mom and dad taught her how to identify policemen and government workers, she wasn’t afraid of them. Actually, she didn’t care enough to be afraid. She was too busy hallucinating her mom, and everything seemed weird. But then she understood perfectly, once she realized that no matter what she scream at the doctors, her mom was _never_ gonna come.

 

She couldn't think, sometimes, she couldn't breathe. She doesn't know whether she's still eating or not, because she knew, for a fact, that her mom is not gonna come.

 

Those people around her, she didn't know any of them.

 

They said daddy will be with her in a month or so.

 

She still can't breathe.

 

But then, she met Tony.

 

She didn't know him, obviously, and it wasn't as if he was extra nice to her. But there was something with him, something in his eyes that made her want to talk to him.

 

She ended up soaking his shirt. But Tony told her about his mom, later on. He held her hands when they were walking on the sidewalks of the streets, and he bent down to look her in the eyes every time he talked to her, and he sat with her when she was scared of sleeping and forgot to breathe.

 

She was still surrounded by strangers, in a weird place, and she was sad and certain that her mom’s not gonna come back. She lived in that corner for lots of days and Tony, Tony tried to make her laugh all the time, with stories and telling her about movies and stuff. They watched some DVDs with the small television, with her lying on the couch and Tony sitting in a chair. He patted her hair and told her the best part of the movie’s plot in spite of her loud-and-serious complaints. She was almost genuinely annoyed by him, and in the whole afternoon never once did she think of the dark night, loud banging sounds and her mom.

 

Everywhere she went, Tony was always with her, kinda like her dad was.

 

She still has days before daddy can come.

 

She still can't breathe sometimes. She's sad, still.

 

But for the first time after her life ended, she felt that it might be okay.

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kelly and Gibbs are, well, coping.   
> But things will get better, it just takes time.  
> Tony kept in touch.

**Two. How life moved on, the first time around.**

 Gibbs remembered how he’d met Tony, the first time. He wasn’t in a good place back then.

 

********************************

 

He felt numb. He couldn’t quite believe it, but denying the reality wasn’t in him, so he just stared blankly at the front seat of the car. Neither the driver nor he said a single word, it’d been seven hours, still, he just can’t find the words. He should probably ask for the details of Kelly’s accommodation, the hospital, how the case was closed, but they said that Kelly’s okay now, safe, and he just, can’t think much. He was muted even in his own head.

 

He couldn’t close his eyes. Every time he did, that day came back to him, that day Shannon and Kelly sat on the porch waving as he left them. Shannon was worried, he’d known. He kissed her and told that it was going to be fine, quietly, in their bed filled with bronze afternoon daylight. He watched her yawned and stroked her hair, those flaming curls, where she rested her head on his chest.

 

He couldn’t let himself go there. The life he lived yesterday became memories today. Something desperate was uncurling deep down in his stomach. For moments there, he wasn’t sure whom he hated more.

 

But no, he went there once and found himself passed out with broken glass everywhere, and he’s not going down there. Kelly. He got to hold on to the thought of his girl. Kelly was still alive, in the present day, and she needed him strong.

 

********************************

 

Gibbs heard some teenage boy shout “For God’s sake shut up” in the common room as he was quickly led there by the CPS officer. He pushed through the door and searched through the gigantic mess of a room for Kelly. There was a pool of spilled water on the floor, and kids were gathering across the room, far as they could get away from the boys fighting. Kelly was right there though, behind one of the boys who were throwing punches, grabbing his shirt nervously.

 

“Watch it around her, got it? Wash your mouth before you talk to her again, buddy.” The boy threatened, paused, then laughed, “No, in fact, never talk to her at all.” The boy, tall and slim, seeming to be 16 or 17, was pinning another kid to the walls with his elbows, pulling the other kid's shirt collar, and spoke loud enough for the whole room to hear. Apparently, where he lacked in bulk, he compensated with fierceness.

 

The other kid was about the same age, one of the older and bigger kids in the room. “It’s not her fucking dollhouse DiNozzo, the annoying little shit, I’ve seen enough of your fucking------”He clutched the taller boy's sides, thrusting hard against him. The taller boy tackled both boys to the ground, pushed his opponent against the floor, and smashed his fists to the ground, inches beside the other boy's head.

 

"Listen to me, you jerk, you should know better than to mess with her mom, you should make some use of that brain in the thick scull of yours and–––" the boy waved fist angrily.

 

“That’s enough.”

 

Gibbs called out from behind.

 

The boy was clenching his fist in anger, warning to throw another punch and about to lose it. “And who the hell are you?” He spitted out before turning around to glance at Gibbs. The room stilled, warily watching as Gibbs and the officer stepped inside.

 

“Daddy!” Kelly shouted as soon as she turned around to see him. She shot through the room and threw herself into his arms. Burying her face in his chest, she cried silently, seemingly overwhelmed by seeing her dad after everything had happened. Tugging his girl close, watching her carefully, relief and sadness washed through him, and suddenly he can close his eyes again, to feel Kelly’s hair by his neck and hear her breath against his shoulder.

 

“ ’s okay now, Kelly,” He murmured softly, “Daddy’s here.”

 

“Daddy,” She sobbed on for some time, while he held her tightly in his embrace. Gradually, she calmed down. He opened a bottle of water with one hand and handed it to her, “Kelly, c’mon, have some water.” She nodded lightly as he hushed, slowly lifting the bottle for her.

 

He looked up from his daughter to see the tall boy she was with, who was still standing by the wall, having released the other kid, who had fled.

 

The boy looked dumbstruck. His hair was ruffled and his jaw was a little bruised, obviously aftermaths of the previous fight. Gibbs looked into his eyes and found them to be alarmingly green. Like Pine trees glittering with snow and Kelly’s lights in Christmas. The boy was clearly embarrassed, raising his hand defensively against his chest and not knowing what to do with them.

 

“Who’s your friend here, Kelly?” He asked his daughter, quietly still, and smiled to her, taking the bottle away. “Tony,” She was all better from the initial outburst and got to her feet. “Daddy, Tony”, she pulled him forward to the boy and reached for the boy. Instead of taking his hand, she pulled the boy by the corners of his shirt and Gibbs saw the boy smiling indulgently at his girl. “Tony, this is my daddy.” She proudly presented. The boy stared at him for a moment before he visibly gathered himself and offered his hand.

 

“Tony DiNozzo,” He said, “sir.”

 

“Gibbs.” He shook the boy’s hand. “How old are you, Tony?”

 

“Seventeen,” Tony answered, somewhat defiantly. Gibbs looked at him in the eye.

 

A moment. Tony looked away.

 

“Seventeen in five months, Mr. Gibbs.” He said. “Uh, I’ve been with Kelly these days since we’ve been here. I can take you to get her things?”

 

“Yay, okay!” Exclaimed Kelly, at the same time officer Zane said “That won’t be necessary, Mr. DiNozzo, I’ll be taking Kelly and Mr. Gibbs to go through the procedures.” She looked at Gibbs for approval and gestured for Kelly to go to her. Kelly reluctantly let go of Tony.

 

“Oh, okay,” Tony said, “I’ll leave you to it then.”

 

But Gibbs saw the pleading flickering in Kelly’s eyes, he thought that she was gonna say _No, I don’t want to leave Tony_ , but all she said was, “Daddy, can I stay a while with Tony when you finish the other works?” with a pleading look in her eyes.

 

“Of course, Kelly, I’ll stay in the room, the round tables over there, you see?” Gibbs replied, “I’ll wrap up with officer Zane here, you can play with Tony.” He kissed his girl on her curls as she beamed at him.

 

Watching Kelly leaning towards Tony and laughing at something the boy said, Gibbs sat across the room the whole afternoon. Kelly didn’t have another emotional outburst, and Tony had her attention almost all the time. The boy was a lot more mature than kids his age, Gibbs thought, perhaps better at handling people and empathy than those college recruits he sometimes had to handle back at the corps. It was his mother as well, Zane said. Gibbs wondered if that was why he treated Kelly with that kind of paternal protective streak.

 

But after all, an afternoon is only so long, and it was time to get back home.

 

Gibbs looked at Tony evenly, the two men were mostly of the same height, and Tony looked back at him, a little awkward still, but with nothing to hide. It wasn't quite like their first staring match, more serious, more attention paid on both sides. Gibbs always believed that you can get much more, out of people's eyes, rather than their words. And he had a feeling, that this kid was one of the good ones, the kind that made good material for an honest man, despite the teenage shabbiness look on top. It felt right, not just in his gut, but in his heart as well.

 

“Bye Tony!” Kelly hugged him, and reminded seriously, “You have to stay in touch, you promised.”

 

“I did, and I will. Bye, Kelly. I’ll be seeing you.” He returned an equally warm smile to her.

 

“Goodbye, Mr. Gibbs. Nice to meet you.” He looked up at Gibbs, smile still on his lips.

 

********************************

 

People say that for children, three things make up the grief of losing a parent.

 

Sadness, first and foremost, is the universal response to death. Beloved people passing away, robbed of their once vividly colorful life, limitless possibility replaced with hollowness and the forever on going trail of “what if”s, causes painful sorrow and regret in the heart of survivors. You can tell a kid that her mom is going somewhere far away, that it’s all but a long farewell, but truth is that the universal sadness is something the heart recognizes and resonates with. You can’t really hide it.

 

Other than that, the aftermath of losing a parent has two elements. One, fear, unintended for lack of food, shelter or financial support, but for the vacancy of guidance, purpose and unconditional trust. It may seem self-centered, too emotionally dependent, but that’s what children are, mostly, and it warrants no accusation. Another is anger, often manifesting in an older age, is directed to the injustice of life, and sometimes, one’s self. Always feeling sorry for yourself takes not so long a while to turn into destructive anger like “Why the hell did shit happen to me” and “Why the hell does shit keeps on happening to me”. Accompanied by self-doubt, sometimes self-hatred, what some would call an obsession with failure, this kind of anger is the real depressing danger.

 

But, thank God for small mercies, unlike Tony, Kelly never really endured the second and third parts of the deal.

 

The sadness was overwhelming, at first. After the initial shock subsided, sadness settled in. She almost drowned. For months she didn’t concentrate on a thing, her mind blanking out constantly. The hollowness got to her stronger than anything else, the emptiness at home, the quietness, and the changes, all reminded her of her mom.

 

But she didn’t dwell on the painful thoughts, at least that’s what she tried. Dad managed to transfer temporarily back home, and he took half a year off. He secretly hated himself for not cherishing what was right before him, Kelly knows that now, though she thought it wasn’t really fair. But back then, dad put on a strong face and made a deal with her: none of them should dwell on the past; they were to get better.

 

Slowly, but surely, that was what Kelly did. She couldn’t say the same for dad, but she knew he tried. Dad helped a lot, by building toys, tables, cabinets and boats with her, by sharing her silence as well as chatter, by getting to know her friends, by taking her fishing, by sticking to all their routines and traditions before and by making up brand new ones. She’s never gonna _get over it_ , no, that’s just not how it works, she supposed. But she learnt to _move on_ _with it_ , accepting it as a part of her, let other people in, and get better. **Mom would like that** , she told herself once too often, unwilling to let go but knowing it in her heart that it was _true_.

 

Tony was also there for her, and he helped a lot as well. Now, what would you call a guy, who’s somewhat ten years older than you, who often goes to pick you up from school, who helps out with science class homework, teaches you to shoot loops, encourages you through dark nights, listens and pays attention to all your preteen life adventures, sometimes goes to meet your teachers at school when your dad couldn’t make it? Not an older brother, she didn’t thinks so, not her dad, cause she already had a great one. She settled on just calling him Tony, while Tony called her a great many things varying from “Kelly”, “dear” to “my smart/most beautiful in the world/ happy/ silly/ genius/etc/etc girl”, or just “my girl”.

 

So Kelly didn’t really need to be scared, since she had her dad, who had not so much words but stayed strong to give her everything she needed. Plus she had Tony, who knew all too well how she felt, having experienced his own version of it. Nor did she get angry, since, for one, she was kind by nature; and also because Tony carefully led her off that road, distracting her with stories, friendship and DVDs, and life in general, the good stuff 10-years-olds are just bound to be distracted with.

 

And that’s how things got better, eventually.

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. Kudos are most welcomed! Hugs. :)


End file.
